Inotera Memories has kicked off trial production of 4Gb DDR2 mobile DRAM based on 30nm process, the company announced at a July 18 investors conference.

Inotera passed certification for 42nm-based 2Gb low-power DDR mobile DRAM, 42nm-based 4Gb DDR3 DRAM and 30nm-based 2Gb DDR3 DRAM in the second quarter of 2012, the company indicated.

Inotera, as originally planned, will upgrade one-third of its total production capacity to 30nm technology at a capex budget of NT$4 billion (US$134 million) in 2012, and has been expanding monthly 30nm capacity from nearly 40,000 12-inch wafers currently to 50,000 units in November, the company indicated. In addition, Inotera is planning further expansion of 30nm capacity with an additional budget.

Inotera shipped DRAM equivalent to 322,000 12-inch wafers in the second quarter of 2012, increasing 26.77% on quarter but decreasing 4.17% on year. The company recorded revenues of NT$9.564 billion, gross margin of negative 27.45%, net operating loss of NT$2.797 billion, net loss of NT$2.977 billion and net loss per share of NT$0.53 for the second quarter.

Inotera expects the DRAM market in the third quarter of 2012 to remain unchanged sequentially. The company has begun shipments of 30nm-based 4Gb DRAM for use in servers and aims to hike the proportion of total shipments for non-PC-use DRAM to 50% by the end of the year.